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IWF King of the Ring (1997)
King of the Ring 1997 was the fifth King of the Ring professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by International Wrestling Federation. The event took place on June 8, 1997 at the Providence Civic Center in Providence, Rhode Island. The main event was a standard wrestling match for the IWF Championship. The Undertaker defeated Faarooq to retain the title. The undercard featured the 1997 King of the Ring tournament, won by Kunter Kearst Kelmsley. Other matches featured on the undercard included Shawn Michaels versus Stone Cold Steve Austin, Heart Foundation (Owen Heart, The British Bulldog, and Jim Furlong) versus Sycho Sid and The Legion of Doom (Hawk and Animal) in a six-man tag team match and Goldust versus Crush. Background King of the Ring featured professional wrestling matches that involved different wrestlers from pre-existing feuds, plots, and storylines that were played out on Raw is War—International Wrestling Federation's (IWF) main television program. Wrestlers portrayed a villain or a hero as they followed a series of events that built tension, and culminated in a wrestling match or series of matches. The pay-per-view event featured the annual King of the Ring single elimination bracket tournament. The tournament started on the May 12, 1997 episode of Raw is War, with Ahmed Johnson defeating Kunter Kearst Kelmsley in the first quarter-final match by disqualification. On the May 19 episode of Raw is War, Kelmsley got another spot in the tournament because he was not properly instructed before his match with Johnson and thus threatened to sue IWF with legal action. He replaced the injured Vader, who was originally scheduled to wrestle Crush in the spot but had been injured in a No Holds Barred match against Ken Shamrock at In Your House 15: A Cold Day in Hell. Kelmsley defeated Crush and regained his spot in the tournament. On the May 26 episode of Raw is War, Jerry Lawler defeated Goldust in the third quarter-final match. The final quarter-final match was held on the June 2 episode of Raw is War, as Mankind defeated Savio Vega. The predominant rivalry heading into the event was between The Undertaker and Faarooq over Undertaker's IWF Championship. On the May 12 episode of Raw is War, Undertaker had nearly defeated Faarooq's stablemate Savio Vega in a non-title match until Faarooq interfered and attacked Undertaker. On the May 31 episode of Shotgun, Faarooq, Crush and Vega defeated Undertaker, Mankind and Vader in a six-man tag team match. It would eventually lead to a title match between Undertaker and Faarooq at King of the Ring. Another predominant rivalry heading into the event was between Stone Cold Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels. On the May 26 episode of Raw is War, Austin and Michaels defeated Owen Heart and British Bulldog to win the IWF Tag Team Championship. However, after the title win, Austin went to fight Bret Heart and Michaels was attacked by the rest of Heart Foundation, which created jealousy between the new champions. On the June 2 episode of Raw is War, Austin and Michaels began fighting each other during a title defense against Legion of Doom (Hawk and Animal). This led to a match between Austin and Michaels at King of the Ring to determine the captain of the team. Results ; ; *Free for All: The Headbangers (Mosh & Thrasher) defeated Bart Gunn & Jesse James (6:00) *Kunter Kearst Kelmsley (w/ Chyna) defeated Ahmed Johnson King of the Ring Semi Final (7:18) *Mankind defeated Jerry Lawler King of the Ring Semi Final (10:22) *Goldust (w/ Terri Runnels) defeated Crush (w/ The Nation of Domination) (9:54) *Owen Heart, The British Bulldog & Jim Furlong defeated The Legion of Doom & Sycho Sid (13:00) *Kunter Kearst Kelmsley (w/ Chyna) defeated Mankind King of the Ring Final (19:24) *Steve Austin fought Shawn Michaels to a double disqualification (22:28) *The Undertaker © (w/ Paul Bearer) defeated Faarooq (w/ The Nation of Domination) to retain the IWF Championship (13:45) Tournament Brackets The tournament was held between May 12 and June 8, 1997. The tournament brackets were: Notes Other on-screen talent Also See *List of IWE pay-per-view events *IWE Event History *King of the Ring DVD Release External Links